By Isabelle Emmanuel, Staff Reporter

After taking Conestoga’s studio art classes, art teacher Beata Artz discovered a passion for creating shapes, colors and patterns. Her  love of teaching inspired her to relay her passion to other students.

In 2015, Artz began as the primary art instructor at Devon Elementary School before transferring to Conestoga, where she is currently in her sixth year of teaching. She has instructed a variety of classes throughout her time at Conestoga, including studio art, Drawing and Painting, 3D Sculpture and Crafts, Ceramics and Art History.

“I had a wonderful high school experience. I went to Conestoga, and from the art teachers that I had, I knew that I wanted to go into teaching pretty early,” Artz said. “I had a good hunch that it was something I wanted to pursue. I was always deciding between being a teacher and getting a fine arts degree, and I ended up getting both.”

Artz found some differences between teaching art  at the elementary and high school levels.

“It (the elementary school) was a bit different,” Artz said. “There’s a lot of energy there, which is amazing. You’re teaching them not only the foundations of art making but fine-hand coordination and how to be a good citizen. Up here, you can foster more technical skills so that the concepts can become more complex and developed. The skills are obviously much different, but some of the personalities haven’t changed a whole lot. I still get really fun, exciting kids at Conestoga.”

Outside of the classroom, Artz serves as the assistant sprints and horizontal jumps coach for the Conestoga track and field team. Her high school track career as a sprinter and jumper inspired her to coach the team at Conestoga. Artz admires how art and athletics complement each other in necessitating order and practice.

“Both need a lot of discipline,” Artz said. “Both require patience and lots of practice. There are a lot of parallels that I can make between the two, but it’s also a great balance. I find art to be a little bit more meditative, quiet and obviously more stationary.”

When Artz is not teaching art or coaching track, she enjoys visiting national parks and traveling around the world with her husband. Most recently, Artz visited Athens, Santorini and Naxos in Greece.

“I do get inspired by places I visit,” Artz said. “One of my teacher examples for a project this fall was a little tile of the Parthenon on the Acropolis. I love being absorbed in the culture of new places, learning about older things and just seeing what’s out there.”

Artz noted that, throughout her nine years of teaching, she has enjoyed fostering a constructive environment for her students and athletes.

“It’s important to give students grace and encourage them to make mistakes in a safe way so we can learn that things aren’t always going to be perfect,” Artz said. “Both my track athletes and art students know that, and I help them work through it. I try to be a teacher that creates a positive environment so students feel okay making mistakes and then either fixing them, trying again or moving on in a matter where they’re not feeling negative about their experience.”

Isabelle Emmanuel can be reached at [email protected].